How to sharpen a knife

D

Decado

Joined
Dec 18, 1999
Messages
40
I am looking for methods of sharpening a knife. I currently have three stones, a course, medium and fine. I am able to get an edge on my CS Voyager but not as good I would like. I would like to get it back to factory sharpness if possible. Anyone have any methods they would like to share?

Also does anyone have any other sharpening systems they would like to recommend?

Thanks for the help.

Decado
 
Try getting that Spyderco sharpening KIT

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My Email is- Hero47@juno.com -

 
Look under FAQ and you will find something about sharpening.A lot of other sites have some very useful information on the subject also.
 
Here, Decado. This should ease up on your search.
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http://bladeforums.com/features/faqsharp.html

Hope this helps. It's very concise and informative. Trust me.
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Dan
 
I have the earlier Sharpmaker and it works great. I recently bought a kit from Razor's Edge to learn how to use stones. Although I haven't had much luck using the guide on big knives, my AFCK is scary sharp- sharper than what it was out of the box. Perhaps a goob bet would be to check out The Razor's Edge Book of Sharpening. It helped me the most when I started studying edges and sharpening methods.

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"Come What May..."
 
Try the Edge Pro! I've used them all and I like it the best, by far. The only downside is the price.
 
The blade guides from Razor's Edge and others (I have an old Buck one) work well for establishing the correct angle. I find that DMT hones -- coarse (blue), medium (red) and fine (green) work well with my Voyagers and other blades. Plus they're not as messy. A two-sided strop (heavy leather glued to a wooden baton), one side rubbed with chromium dioxide honing compound finish the edge.
 
If your budget is <$100, try the Spyderco Sharpmaker #204. If you don't mind spending up to $300, get an Edge Pro. I am 100% pleased with it.
 
With a decent magnification aid it will usually be pretty obvious why a knife isn't getting as sharp as you'd like it.
 
I assume your stones are long enough to be useful (at least 6"). The usual problem is that you aren't taking enough metal off the edge and/or your holding the blade at the wrong angle (tipped up too high the edge will drag, tipped down too low your sharpening doesn't make it to the edge).

Find a protractor and draw yourself a 20-degree angle on some paper. Cut your angle out and use it as a reference as you hold your blade on your stone. When you hone you will want to hold your blade tipped up so that the centerline is 20-degrees off the surface of the stone (later you may decide to go higher or lower). You don't have to hold a perfect angle, but you will get your job done fastest if you stay in the 20-degree range.

Clean your stones using hot water, sink scouring powder, and a brush or Scotch Brite. You are going to do most of your work with your coarsest stone. Holding your 20-degrees hone one side 50 strokes then the other side 50 strokes (use hard pressure). See if you can feel a burr forming on the side opposite your latest honing effort. If not, then repeat. You want to keep working your coarse stone until you get a conspicous burr for the full length of your blade.

Once you get your burr, work it off by honing on alternating sides of the blade lightly with the coarse hone. Finish up by similar light honing with the medium then fine stones. As your final step strop the blade with the edge-trailing a few strokes on the finest stone. Then very, very, lightly, hone edge-leading. Strop on leather. See the FAQ. Keep in mind that your biggest problem is if you don't rough down your blade far enough before you get to your finer stones.

If you want a finer finish edge than this gives you, get some ceramic hones that are mounted in a 'V' pattern in a wooden block. Use these in your finish step.

You might need longer stones. If you are working with a really difficult blade alloy you might want to try a medium coarse DMT diamond bench hone for your rough work.
 
Its a big help if the stones are long enough to put them down on the bench and use them.If they're not, then you should hold the knife in one hand and the stone in the other and move the stone in circles up and down the blade.You have to be very careful about your angle if you do it this way.
There are a lot of different ways to sharpen and its hard to say which is the best. but in my opinion you shouldn't push down very hard on the stone. I usually make 3 strokes down one side then switch to the other side. It seems like this keeps things more even for me than if I do all one side then the other. Use the coarse stone until the bevels look completely flat. Then go to the medium stone and use it until the edge starts to shine and is fairly sharp. Then use the fine stone until the edge is polished and as sharp as you want it. You can sharpen at any angle thats comfortable to you. Its best for it to be between 15 and 30 degrees. The thinner the edge the sharper, the thicker the edge the stronger. Sharpen according to what kind of edge you want.Hope this helps.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
Thanks guys for all the great advice. I am going to look into getting the Spyderco sharpener. The stones I use are 6" long set in a wooden block that I can rotate. I have never really used the course stone and always started with the medium. When I can get some free time from work and X-mas shopping I am going to give it a try.

Thanks again guys!!

Decado
 
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